The Lorax: The Guardian Cares
by Michelle-And-The-Beatle
Summary: After the Once-ler is brought back to life, he looks for his bed in the river. With no luck, he grows tired. The Lorax looks for the Beanpole, and tries to comfort him about the loss of his bed. Please Enjoy!


Once-ler just got his bed stolen, woke up floating in a river _on_ his stolen bed, and was brought back to life by the Lorax. After all of that, he had a right to be mad and tired. He just promised to not cut down anymore Truffula trees, and the Lorax promised to keep an eye on him.

"... But first I have to find my bed," Once-ler moped away from the river bank, in search for his bed.

After searching for an hour, the Once-ler's bed was nowhere to be found. And what was worse, he was getting exhausted. He had lost his bearings from being so tired. So, Once-ler just picked a spot under the shade of a Truffula tree and lied down. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

The Lorax, meanwhile, went to the Once-ler's camp to return a sock he found of his. He knocked on the door, waiting for him to open it. When no action came from within the house, the guardian peeped through his window. The Lorax's eyes widened when he didn't see the tall human inside.

Just then, Uncle Martin came running (wobbling?) from the forest towards the isolated house. Lorax jumped down from the window he was perched on and met up with the large Bar-ba-loot.

"What? What is it?" the Lorax asked, worried. The Bar-ba-loot bent over, trying to catch his breath.

He finally babbled things and pointed to the forest.

"Are you serious?" Lorax understood everything the Bar-ba-loot said, "Alright. I'll go check it out."

The Lorax left Uncle Martin and jogged up a hill, through the forest, in search for the sleeping Once-ler.

After twenty minutes of searching, the Lorax finally saw the tall human's form laid out on the grass. He approached him carefully.

"Once-ler?" the Lorax looked shocked to see him there. He gently shook the young man's shoulder to make sure he was alive. The Once-ler rolled over onto his side, now facing the Lorax.

The Lorax noticed that this human's face was tear-stained. He wondered why and how that could be. The guardian now poked the Once-ler's stomach in the hopes of getting him up.

The Once-ler sat up immediately and yelled out, "I'm not scared of trees!"

After that, the young man curled himself into a ball, leaning against a Truffula tree. The Lorax was very confused.

"Hey, you alright, kid?" he asked warily. The Once-ler looked up and saw the Lorax standing in front of him. He nodded, biting his lip.

"What happened? How come you're not in your home?"

"I-I couldn't find.. my b-bed," the Once-ler began to shiver, having only his thin pajamas in the cool night air.

"So, how'd you get over here?"

"I went looking fo-for the bed. But I didn't find it."

"Oh... you shoulda asked us to help you. And you don't look so good, Beanpole. You sure you're okay?"

"I-I'm cold," the Once-ler said. But he wasn't stuttering because he was cold, as the Lorax originally assumed. He was shaking and stuttering because he felt his eyes burning up with tears and his throat form a a lump in it.

"Come on, kid. We should get you home," Lorax motioned for the young man to follow him, but he didn't. Instead, Once-ler shivered some more and took a deep intake of breath. When he let out the breath, it came out slow and shaky, and a tear ran from his eye and down his cheek.

The Lorax saw him wiping it away and ran back to him, placing his furry hands on Once-ler's knees to get a better look at his face.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's the matter? What're you crying about?"

"I'm not crying," Once-ler said broken up by gasps, and he looked away from The Lorax.

"Yeah, you are. Tell me what's wrong," The Lorax never imagined that this determined young man would be crying. The Once-ler shook his head, being stubborn.

"I'll ask one more time, Beanpole," Lorax looked up at the Once-ler's face. No response.

"Alright," the Lorax sighed, "Then you leave me no choice."

And with that, the Lorax began lightly wiggling his fingers on the Once-ler's exposed side. The young man bit his lip, in order not to laugh. But as more pressure came from Lorax's fingers, the harder it was for him to stay quiet.

"Mmpf... Hehe..."

"C'mon, Beanpole! Tell me why your eyes are wet!" The Lorax now used both hands on the ticklish Once-ler. The skinny human started to laugh. He flinched away from the Lorax's torturous fingers, but couldn't get him to stop.

"Tell me!" the orange guardian demanded again, but with a huge smile on his face.

"Nahahaha! N-no! Stahp! Lorahahahax, stop!"

"I'm not stopping until you tell me what's wrong."

"Nothihihing's... Bahahaha... wrong!"

The Once-ler tried pushing the little orange guardian off of him, but couldn't. He eventually laid down, while trying to escape. This just made his situation worse. The Lorax jumped on the young man and tickled his stomach. That just made the Once-ler squeal and laugh harder.

The Once-ler grabbed the Lorax's wrists and lifted the guardian off of him. He held him in the air by his wrists. The Lorax struggled in his grasp, while the tall man was regaining his breath.

"What made you cry, Beanpole?"

"I'll tell you if your promise not to tickle me anymore."

"I can't promise that," the guardian smirked. Even the Once-ler grinned. He set the Lorax on the ground next to him.

"Your explanation?" the Lorax crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for an answer. Once-ler played with his toes as he spoke, not looking up at the Lorax.

"I just... I was cold. And I had a nightmare..."

The Lorx couldn't help but snort when he heard that. The Once-ler shot his head up and pouted.

"Hey!" the human poked the Lorax, wanting him to stop.

"I-Is that why you were yelling about you not being scared of trees before?"

The Once-ler nodded.

"And I was scared," the tall human mumbled.

"A tall, skinny guy like yourself? Scared of what?!"

That made the Once-ler chuckle. He rubbed the back of his neck, still smiling, thinking of how to answer the Guardian of the Forest.

"I was just scared of being out here. Alone. And not in my bed. It creeped me out, Mustache."

"Oh, I see. Why don't we get you back to your home?" the Lorax stood up and waited for the lanky young man to do the same. He didn't.

"You want me to hold your hand or something?" the small fluffy guardian teased, holding out his hand to the Once-ler. The human laughed, standing up afterwards.

"Thanks for caring about me, Meatloaf," Once-ler smiled and ruffled the top of the Lorax's head. They began walking back Once-ler's campsite.

"And thanks for making that promise," Lorax smiled back at him. Once-ler gave the guardian a weak smile. He looked ahead of him as he walked. Once-ler wasn't sure for how long he would be able to keep that promise.

~The End~


End file.
